


Tibi Tres Annos.

by aetherytes (hanabusakokoro)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, I had a mighty need to write some Domestic Ereri Fluffyness. Please excuse me., M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 10:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanabusakokoro/pseuds/aetherytes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div>
  <p>When Eren met Levi, his heart already knew that lost, somewhere within this tenuous third space, this void between land and ocean, between time and space -- his heart already knew that, come what may, Eren would make Levi happy.</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	Tibi Tres Annos.

When Eren met Levi, he was just starting his senior year in college. The how, why or when doesn't matter, but when Eren met Levi, he knew he wanted nothing more than to make him smile. A rather difficult task when a screen separated them both, just as much as boundless oceans and land mass did.

Fickle hours grew into days, into weeks, into months even. Levi didn't smile often. In saying ' _not often_ ', Eren meant not at all, but the volition was there. He'd stuck by his goal. ' _I want to make him smile._ ' He'd often tell himself that, but it never crossed his mind to ask himself, ' _why?_ '

Perhaps he already knew.

~~Perhaps fate already knew.~~

When Eren met Levi, his heart already knew that lost, somewhere within this tenuous third space, this void between land and ocean, between time and space -- his heart already knew that, come what may, Eren would make Levi happy.

~

When Levi told Eren that he should forget about him and go and make real friends, Eren's heart sunk into his stomach. He vaguely remembered asking himself what he'd done wrong. Eren believed that Levi was real enough. He didn't understand what brought on such words, but he also vaguely remembers protesting to such a thing.

"Its not that I don't have real friends." He began, almost wistful in the way he spoke, "But I don't need them. I don't want them."

He shook his head, molten emerald boring into flinty grey. His brows knit together, a perfect crease across his forehead as he scrutinized the brunet. And though his heart was pounding in his chest with a velocity that made his head spin and his stomach turn, he knew that he couldn't give up.

"You're real. You're all I need." Eren paused again, chewing the inside of his cheek fervently as he did so, "Isn't that enough?"

Emerald eyes searched flinty steel for answers, he was taken aback at the curve of his lips and the sharp but beautiful laughter that followed. He watched as his head tilted back slightly, and as his chest rose and fell with each passing chuckle. Eren fell silent, cheeks flushed, eyes downcast. Maybe it had been ridiculous to think that Levi would think so.

"Alright."

He blinked, and would've been confused if he hadn't known Levi to be genuine in his response. Though he didn't speak much, what he said had purpose. Maybe Levi had realised that Eren was genuine in the way he spoke, too.

When Levi told Eren that he should forget about him and go make real friends, Eren was glad that he had earnestly refused.

~

When Eren asked Levi to go out with him, he was well aware of that third space. Perhaps all too aware of it. But when Eren asked Levi to go out with him, he laughed at him and shook his head.

Confusion etched itself upon his features, but he let him laugh, brows furrowed awkwardly. Was it a mistake to ask? Had Eren guessed wrong? Received mixed signals? Slipped up somewhere?

"I was under the assumption we already were."

Eren froze, brows still furrowed as he now scrutinized the raven through the lens of his camera. The corners of his lips turned south, forming a dark line across the contour of his mouth. Were they? Since when? Eren hadn't remembered such a silent agreement before hand.

"Was that not a confession?" Levi spoke, perturbed at the brunet's sudden silence.

But Eren knew what he meant. And it had been a confession of sorts, under the guise of an excuse or otherwise, but it was. But that was almost three months ago. Levi still remembered such things?

"Ah." A light chuckle escaped Eren as he nodded, now shaken from his stupor, "I guess it was, yeah."

It didn't need to be reinforced, nor reinstated. But there was a silent agreement.

When Eren asked Levi to go out with him, the third space didn't matter. The distance. The time. The space.

In that moment, it didn't matter.

~

When Eren told Levi that he loved him, he hadn't meant for it to be so riddled with desperation. It was the end of summer, and he had been run ragged with studying and revising for his exams. Time spent with Levi was few and far between. It ached, this deplorable feeling, but the test of distance honed him.

"I love you."

It had slipped from his tongue that stifling summer night, thick with desperation, longing. He paused in his repose, emerald hues focused not on Levi's face for fear of rejection, fear of neglect, fear of loss. He eyes focused instead upon his knuckles, taut and white in their tight stipulation as his fingers curled around the bottom of his shirt, fiddling with it nervously.

He swallowed hard, disregarding the hammering of his heart against his chest, the butterflies in his stomach, the sweat that rolled down in beads across the back of his neck. He swallowed hard, and disregarded the unsure, the meek, the indecisive thoughts. It wasn't a mistake. These were his pure and unadulterated feelings.

"I love you." He raised his head as he spoke, each word clear and concise, cut with purpose. "I love you, Levi."

His silence was thick, an empty void that matched his usually lucid expression. But his expression had softened then. Flinty grey filled with warmth, with longing. And a smile -- _Gods, Eren would never forget that smile_ \-- complacent, almost fitting. And he sighed. Not an exasperated sigh. Not an angry, or volatile sigh. But it was expressive, in that Eren knew what his response would be.

"I know, kid." A chuckle escaped him at the falter in the brunet's face at the derogatory name calling, "I love you too."

When Eren told Levi that he loved him, maybe it wasn't supposed to be desperate. But maybe he had been glad it was. Maybe it was rudimentary. But he'd never, ever, regret saying those three words.

~

When Eren met Levi for the first time in person, he swore his heart would caved in, thrice. Two years after they had met, and a year after Eren had confessed his true feelings, Eren met Levi for the first time, all over again. There was no tenuous third space. No time, nor distance. No computer screen, or phone line, or gifts in boxes from far off lands.

Maybe his sister had been firmly against it, but Eren had been set in his ways. Never had he been so determined to reach a goal before.

"I love him," he vaguely remembered expressing himself to Mikasa openly, "He completes me. You need to understand that."

Maybe Mikasa hadn't been entirely okay with it, but she knew when it wasn't her place. She was amazed, almost. But she was happy. Eren was happy. That was all she needed. Because in the past, Eren had no one but her. Needed no one but her. And maybe it was that motherly instinct, or her stubbornness that refused to let him go. But she knew that Eren wouldn't be hers forever.

The plane ride across continent had shook him -- perhaps it were the vertigo. Or perhaps, better yet, it were the excruciating excitement that built up in his stomach at the very thought of it. He was here, now, hurtling across land and sea to places unknown to him. To faces unknown to him, barring one. **One**. The only face he'd need, the only face he _wanted_ to need.

But to know, now, that as mere hours faded into minutes, into seconds, and the distance grew smaller... to know that they'd overcome that time, that space, that distance -- it meant so much more to him. To know that he'd be able to see, to feel, to touch that which was once unattainable...

Maybe it was when his heart melted, and when he held him in his arms for the first time, that he knew this was right. That overcoming all of the things that troubled him endlessly, was worth it for just this one moment. But as they stood, wrapped in each other's arms and enveloped in silence, did they know that words need not be spoken, nor thoughts imparted.

Because when Eren met Levi for the first time in person, he swore that his heart caved in, perhaps, _more_ than thrice.

~

When Eren proposed to Levi, it had been a year since he flew across land and sea to meet him, and three months after he'd moved in to Levi's home. _Their home_. It rolled off his tongue perfectly, gurgled in his ears, tickled his cheeks -- it was a nice idea. An idea that led him to believe that it wouldn't truly be their home until he made it his. Until he made Levi his.

It hadn't been glamorous, nor well executed, but he had tried. Maybe he was just nervous, afraid, weak in his own right. Terrified, perhaps, once again, of a rejection he knew wouldn't come. He had constantly feared that the restaurant he'd picked hadn't been good enough, or the movie had been too cheesy, or--

When Eren proposed to Levi, it was on a chilly November evening, in a starlit park. The moon hung low, basking them in its light. The wind picked up as they walked, silently, hand in hand. It wasn't until he'd halted his movements, downcast his expression, dropped his hand from his, did Levi know that something was wrong.

A shaky breath had escaped him, diffusing into a hot, white cloud in the cold November air. The hand he'd dropped fled to his pocket, unsure, thumbing the cool silvery band in his pocket, earnestly, anxiety clouding his mind. Another breath escaped him, resolute now. It was now or never. He couldn't let himself be blinded by the what if and the how or the but.

He seized Levi's left hand, cool bony fingers melting against his rough ones. He stepped closer, bringing his hand to his lips, a soft peck to each fingertip, as became habitual. Then he paused, bringing his palm to his lips, as Levi stared, relentlessly. His stoicism would have daunted him, had he not known that Levi showed emotion through his eyes, through his words, through his actions, rather than his expression.

"Levi," He started, knowing fully well that he already had his attention, "I want to ask you something."

The elder male blinked, acknowledging, turning fully to face him, eyes inquisitive. Maybe he already knew, and perhaps it were entirely too obvious what Eren was going to ask, but he had shown no inclination of such things. A nod followed, recognition, and a short, "Go on."

A breath leaves him, in, out, slowly. "It's been three years since I met you," He began, eyes trained, poised, directly gazing into those of his partner, "Three years, I have loved you. Three years, I have tried my darnedest to make you smile. And it is in those three years, that I have realised that it is _you_ who makes me whole. _You_ , who completes me. And I know I ask a lot of you, and I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm so filthy and untidy and clumsy and stupid... But when you smile, when you laugh, when you hold me in your arms and kiss me senseless -- _I know_ , I know so much that I want to spend every waking moment with you. And I know, _I know_ this is silly, and I know I'm just a kid to you, but I love you, _I love you so damn much and I..._ "

He falls silent, laughs offhandedly at the tears that pried themselves from his eyes, tightens his grip on Levi's hand, intertwines their fingers, and prays to whatever gods there were that he wasn't wrong, that he wasn't going to trip and stumble and fall chasing after his forever waning form. That perhaps they could stand side by side as equals, as partners, as lovers. He kneels down, brunet tresses falling across his eyes, dewy droplets clinging to his eyelashes, cheeks flushed, gaunt, poised--

"Levi," He started once more, in tandem to before, pulling that small silvery band from his pocket to present to the raven, "Would you honour me so, and _God help me_ , do me justice but... Would you marry an idiotic kid like me?"

He need not wait for an answer, nor hear no words before the raven chuckles, falls to his knees, throws himself upon Eren. They fall to the ground, fingers still intertwined, Levi's other arm rises, wraps around his neck, pulls him close, holds him, assures him -- he knows, he knows. And he buries his face into the crook of Eren's neck, perfectly, like a piece of a puzzle, as if it were made for him, and he sighs, and smiles, and he knows.  _He knows that this is meant to be_.

"You may be filthy, and untidy and clumsy, and perhaps a little stupid. But you're my filthy and untidy and clumsy, stupid, idiotic kid." He hums, nonchalantly, and he sighs contentedly. "But that's what makes me love you. _You_ , who completes me. _You_ , who makes me whole. _You_ , who wormed your way into my core and pulled at my heartstrings. You're the idiot _I_ love. _And that's good enough for me._ "

And he leans up, gentle, calm, and captures Eren's lips off guard, holds them, poised. It's not a hungry or lustful kiss, nor is it forlorn, or angry like the kisses he gives him to shut him up on a Sunday afternoon when he's tired and trying to read. But its serene, its gentle, its poured full to the brim and overflowing with this pure, raw and unadulterated love, three years full of love. And for the first time, his shell cracks open, pulls away his mask, and he's laughing, smiling, sobbing. And he's angry and sad but happy, and he's confused, _oh he's confused_. And he dizzily pulls away, buries his face against the brunet's chest, thumps against it with his fist, sobs quietly. Because he _knows_ , he knows he's broken, and he knows things will get better. Because Eren was his medicine, his wake up call, his deadly dose of neurotics and then some.

"I love you, you damn brat."

He mumbles against his chest, shivers, curls closer, forgets that they're on the filthy ground in the park at 11:30PM on a chilly November, forgets that he's cold. But he savours the oddly minty flavour of the boy's lips, despite the food they'd eaten earlier, and he relishes the feel of his own soft lips upon Eren's chapped ones. Accepts the silence, closes his eyes,

"I know. But does this mean yes, or...?"

A laugh escapes the brunet as Levi thumps upon his chest again, in protest, mocking, joking. And he shakes his head, exasperated, paws at the boy's shirt, falls silent, listens closely to his heartbeat. And Eren smiles, sits up, pulls him closer, rests his head upon Levi's, sighs contentedly -- and the moon watches, and the moon listens, and the stars blink, silently. They bless them, and he counts his blessings, too, because he knows that time is short and few and far between.

"Idiot."

Another laugh, but this time, from the raven, genuine, clear, content. Eren wordlessly slips the ring upon his finger, wraps his arms tightly around the raven, breathes in, pecks his forehead, cheeks, nose, lips. And he swears to God, that he owes him one. And he lifts Levi from the ground, carries him home, lays in bed, warm, peaceful. Hand in hand, silently.

When Eren proposed to Levi, perhaps it was not glamorous, nor well executed. And perhaps he had been nervous, weak willed, idiotic -- He had never once regretted that choice, on a chilly starlit night in the park in November at 11:30PM.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be writing stuff for Ego Monstro, but I had a mighty need to write something Domestic and Fluffy because it is my absolute weakness. I know it ends abruptly, but I intend to write further parts of it eventually, perhaps. For now, just think of it as a tooth rottingly fluffy domestic piece of crap I shat out because I'm homo for these guys.
> 
> Also, the title, "Tibi tres annos." is latin for "To you, three years from now."


End file.
